


Once a Year

by Enchantable



Series: Chuck's Interesting Hobbies [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Baking, Birthday Cake, F/M, Licking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 18:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchantable/pseuds/Enchantable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck bakes his father a cake for his birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once a Year

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Chako fluff

She finds him in the kitchen. 

It’s an odd place for him to be considering they’ve just gotten back from a mission and it’s two in the morning, but there he is. She tucks a piece of damp hair behind her ears and steps forward. She knows he’s aware she’s there, but he doesn’t look up from what he’s doing. Her eyebrows raise when she realizes that he’s stirring something.

Chuck’s got a bowl and a whisk and he’s mixing what looks like cake batter. 

The deep red of it is bright against the stainless steel bowl and the soft grey of his t-shirt. The other ingredients are in precise stacks, no strewn about flour or cracked eggs. Chuck doesn’t look happy as he works, like all things his focus is absolute on the bowl in his arms. She comes up to the long table he’s working at the end of and leans on it. 

"Not a word," he growls and she ducks her head to hide a smile. 

"Do you do this every year?" she asks. 

He fixes her with a glare and she presses her lips together. They have an open port in Hong Kong, but she can see the cream cheese softening and the little pots of dye sitting nearby. Those things are hard to get. Chuck follows her eyes and sighs before focusing back on the bowl. 

"It’s his favorite cake," he mutters, like this is something to be ashamed of. 

Herc’s birthday is tomorrow. 

Herc’s birthday is tomorrow and like he does every year, Chuck is baking. Baking and cooking are one of the few things he actually likes outside of Jaegers, Max and Mako. It requires precision, it requires focus and he gets to use knives most of the time. Like with anything he sets his mind to, Chuck is a very good cook. Besides, he reasons every year, it’s not like he can actually go out and shop for a present for Herc. Well, he can. But he’s not going to.

Mako walks over to the cream cheese and glances around for the recipe. Chuck feels his ears get hot. There isn’t one, not one that he has written down. Mako’s smile is getting wider as she catches up and he tightens his hold on the whisk. He can practically feel her smile grow. His head shoots up with a glare. 

"It’s once a year alright?" he snaps, “he likes the stupid cake and I don’t have to spend money on him."

It’s a bold faced lie since it’s taken a lot of money and planning to bring the ingredients in. He’s still glaring when Mako reached out and drags her finger along the very rim of the bowl before sticking it in her mouth. He opens his mouth to tell her how disgusting that is when she removes her finger with a soft sound and leaves a smudge of bright red cake batter in the corner of her mouth. 

Mako has nice lips, he’s not going to deny that. And the smudge of cake batter on them isn’t exactly making them worse. She gives him a look that’s part curious, part smirk. He rolls his eyes and turns back to the bowl, focusing on making it as smooth as possible. His oven’s preheating and his pans are greased. 

Her finger reaches towards him and he turns away. She’s not stealing any more cake batter from him. When he’s satisfied he turns as she pushes the pans towards him. He looks up at her and when his eyes catch hers, her small pink tongue darts out and swipes the cake batter. He feels his ears get hot and he ducks his head, turning his attention to the cake batter instead. 

He pours it in the pans, making sure they’re perfectly level. Then he turns and slides them into the oven, setting the timer on his watch. He sees Mako move in the doorway of the oven. When he turns around she’s sitting on the table with the batter bowl in one hand, the pale fingers of her others dipping in. He opens his mouth to yell at her and then kind of forgets about that when she slips a finger into her mouth. 

"You’re very good," she says when she draws her finger out of her mouth, “this is delicious."

This, Chuck things, is very unfair. Mako gives him this little infuriating smile and he gropes for his wits. 

"You should taste it baked," he snaps and it comes out gruff because Chuck Hansen does not flirt with anyone. 

"I don’t know," Mako says thoughtfully and swirls her finger into the bowl and fucking holds it out to him, “this is very delicious. Want to taste?"

"Why would I want raw cake batter?" he questions, “that shit’ll get you sick."

Mako shrugs like this is a victory.

"More for me," she says cheekily and slips her finger back into her mouth.

Chuck exhales hard and looks at his watch. He’s got time and Mako doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere. She shifts the bowl and slips her clean hand into it, swiping some of the batter on her hand. He walks over to her when she beckons him. She extends her hand, the batter dripping from her fingertip and he really doesn’t want to make a mess on the floor so he parts his lips. 

She swipes it along his jaw. 

He glares as she laughs, the wet batter bright against his scruff. It’s sticky and unpleasant and entirely her fault.

"That’s not—" he begins

He doesn’t finish because she leans forward and takes care of the cake batter before he can get a towel. He falls silent because her lips are soft and her tongue is almost teasing and it’s pretty hot when she takes charge like this. She continues to kiss his skin, trailing her lips down to his neck, her teeth lightly scraping his skin. His hands find their way to her thighs and she parts her legs, letting him closer as she works her way up behind his ear.

He ducks his head swiftly and captures her lips. He licks deep inside her mouth and tastes the cake batter and something that is indefinably Mako. He barely has the sense to set the bowl aside as his hands slide around her rear and pull her closer, almost to the lip of the table. Her feet press into the backs of his thighs as her fingers tug the hairs at the nape of his neck. He’s sure he’s got cake batter in there but she sighs into his mouth and he doesn’t care.

"You play dirty," he says in between kisses as he braces his hands on the metal so he can lean her back. His fingers brush into the cake bowl and he swipes his fingers along the swell of her breast. She hisses through her teeth and he grins, “always were a sore loser."

"Like you’re better," she shoots back and his grin turns positively wicked.

"That would imply I lose," he says, “you’re not a liar, are you?" he asks. She tries to glare but her chest is pushing upwards, “maybe I should feel your pulse," he says and ducks his head.

He sucks the soft skin into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the cake batter. Her pulse races against his tongue as he presses it to her skin. She moans out something that’s a combination of a swear and his name as her hips push up, her hands dragging through his hair like she’s trying to pull him down and inside her right there on the kitchen table. 

He grins and pulls back before moving upwards and kissing her. He likes making her control snap just a little too much. But when she looks at him all flushed and perfect and he knows he put her in that state, it does something to him that even piloting a Jaeger can’t. Because it’s not metal and circuits and a team. It’s just them. 

Chuck finds he likes just them. 

His hand is just finding it’s way up her shirt when his damn watch goes off. He groans and leans his head against her collar bone before pushing back and heading for the oven. The cakes are perfect, all warm and red in their pans. He sets them to cool and turns around to see Mako looking at the cream cheese packets. 

He adjusts himself and comes over to her, standing behind her, purposefully sliding his hands along her hips. 

"We’re going to need all of those," he says reaching for the sugar he’s got already laid out, “how are you with your hands?"

"My technicians don’t have any complaints," she says and angles her head back, nipping at his jaw, “last I checked, neither does my boyfriend."

Chuck laughs low in his throat and kisses her. 

"No," he agrees, “he doesn’t."


End file.
